http://mmajunkie.com Ben Askren was not pleased at all after registering his first successful welterweight title defense over a very game Jay Hieron.

It took 25 minutes of back-and-forth action, but Askren managed to convince two of the three judges to score the fight in his favor; he had done just enough to earn the split-decision win.

The matchup served as the main event of Bellator 56, which took place Saturday at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kan.

The main card aired live on MTV2 (and in high-definition on EPIX) while the preliminary card streamed on Spike.com.

Round one of the five-round headline was a bit of a wakeup call for Askren in that the former two-time NCAA Division I national wrestling champion was unsuccessful on all three of his takedown attempts, which typically come with relative ease. While neither man got the better of the other in the exchanges on the feet, Hieron was able to continue to stifle his opponent’s offensive wrestling game and essentially cancel each other out.

In the second round, Askren started to find his game again as he finished off a takedown with a second effort after an initial sprawl by Hieron. From there, Askren was able to ride out the majority of the round and land ground-and-pound and knees to the body.

The pendulum swung in Hieron’s favor in the third. He was able to land his left hook and straight right with success early on. Despite being taken down by Askren in the second half of the round, he was able to reverse and take little damage in the process.

In a scramble in the fourth stanza, Askren was able to transition to backside mount following a front headlock. He then landed a series of knees to the ribcage of Hieron as the Missouri native’s supporters in the crowd became increasingly vocal for the champ.

With the bout up in the air heading into the final round, it was Hieron who took control of the reins. In a round spent almost entirely on the feet, he was able to land the cleaner, harder punches on the chin of Askren. Hieron’s jab was used as a weapon to keep Askren at range and not allow him to set up any offensive wrestling he may have wanted to again pursue. In fact, Hieron was having so much success in the final minutes he began taunting Askren after landing a spinning back kick that knocked Askren to the canvas.

It appeared to be icing on the cake for Hieron, but the judges didn’t award him the fight in the end.

“The judges could have gone either way on that one,” Askren said afterward. “I’m not pleased at all. I’m supposed to be getting better.”

The victory extends Askren’s (9-0 MMA, 6-0 BFC) overall unbeaten streak to nine. Hieron (22-5 MMA, 3-1 BFC) is left wondering what might have been as he loses for the first time in the promotion.

Santos fights fire with fire, spoils Grove’s second chance

Neil Grove’s second run at a tournament crown did not go as planned.

After dropping an opening-round/quarterfinal-round fight to Mike Hayes, he was given the opportunity to reenter the field after Blagoi Ivanov pulled out due to injury. That set up a fight with Thiago Santos.

It was a golden opportunity squandered.

The fight began with Grove refusing to touch gloves with Santos. He then swung wildly with an overhand right that was easily avoided by Santos.

Moments later, Santos dropped Grove with an overhand right of his own. He proceeded with ground and pound, and Grove gave up his back trying to escape.

Santos promptly locked in a rear-naked choke, and Grove was forced to tap.

“I saw a lot of his (Grove’s) fights,” Santos stated through his translator. “I studied a lot. He opened the space. I hit him with the punch and put him down.”

Santos (10-1 MMA, 2-0 BFC) secures his spot in the heavyweight tournament finals and reaches a double-digit win total in his budding career. Grove (11-5-1 MMA, 3-3 BFC), meanwhile, falls to an even .500 in Bellator.

Prindle records highlight-reel finish in battle of heavy hitters

It wasn’t expected to take long, and that’s precisely how it played out.

In the night’s other tourney semifinal, heavyweight giants Ron Sparks and Eric Prindle walked to the center and went to work from the opening bell.

Sparks landed clean first with an overhand right to Prindle’s chin. The pair then traded a series of low kicks and backed off to reset.

Sparks then looked to close the distance by moving forward and throwing a right low kick. The kick was countered immediately with a left hook over the top from Prindle that planted Sparks face first onto the canvas.

A pair of follow-up punches landed as the referee dove in to stop the fight.

The notoriously mild-mannered Prindle immediately went to his knees to check on Sparks, who eventually left the cage on his own power.

In securing his spot in the tournament finals, Prindle (9-1 MMA, 3-0 BFC) extends his win streak to seven while Sparks (8-1 MMA, 3-1 BFC). tastes defeat for the first time in his professional career

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